Floating type printing system



March 23, 1965 YosHlYAsu KlKUcHl 3,174,415

FLoATING TYPE PRINTING SYSTEM Filed Dec. 6, 1962 2 sheets-sheet 1 Jr E.El

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FLOATING TYPE PRINNNG SYSTEM 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 6, 1962 r E..E.

United States Patent 3,174,415 FLATHNG TYPE PRENTENG SYSTEM YoshiyasuKiirnehi, Tokyo, Japan, assigner to Nippon ilectric Company Ltd., Tokyo,lapan, a corporation ot apan Filed Dec. 6, 1962, Ser. No. 242,794 Claimspriority, application Jlapan, Dec. S, 196i, fio/44,529 l?. Claims. (Ci.95-45) This invention relates to printing systems and more particularlyto printing systems for use with high-speed electronic computers, whichprinting system employs novel electronic means for controlling thepositioning of characters to be printed as well as the speed of thedocument upon which characters are printed in order to avoid thenecessity for stoppage of either the character source or the feeding ofthe document.

Printing systems which are presently in use have been developed toexhibit the capabilities of transferring a character image on to arecording medium through optical or electrostatic means. Such printingsystems are adapted to form the visually observable image through theemployment of the conventionally known methods comprising a characterdisplay device which is capable ot displaying any character among apredetermined group of characters at a suitable position on the faceplate of the display device, such as, for example, a general purpose ora special purpose display medium. The visual character being displayedis then either optically or electrostatically transferred to a suitablesensitive document upon which the characters are printed.

Present day systems of this general type are provided with mechanicalfeed mechanism for controlling the recording medium feed rate. Such feedmechanism are presented with the problems of being capable ot providinga continuous constant feed rate as well as being able to perform anintermittent operation such as, for example, the operation encounteredin the printing of a new line of characters which requires the feedmechanism to either decelerate rapidly or come to a complete halt inorder that the new line of characters which is to be transferred to therecording medium be suitably positioned thereon.

Such a capability is necessary for the reason that the manner in whichcharacters are displayed on the face plate of the display means, such asfor example, cathode ray tube display means, is the repetitive linescanning method which consists of scanning one character after anotherin succession and in a prescribed sequence, for example, from` left toright and then immediately moving back to the left-hand startingposition for display of the next line. If the recording medium is fed atsuch a continuous constant rate there arises a need for allowing notonly a predetermined time duration for the actual printing of eachcharacter, such as, the exposure time, for example, but also a likepredetermined time duration for inserting a blank or space during whichno character image is printed. In printing bills, for example, thenumber of characters that can be filled out in the blank part may amountto from 50% to 70% of the total number of printing positions.

The device of the instant invention provides electronic means for bothvarying the speed rate and for stopping the recording medium, as well ashaving the capability of controlling the positioning of the charactersdisplayed on the display medium face plate in order to print thecharacters in the desired positions upon the recording medum.

The printing system of the instant invention is cornprised of means forgenerating an electronic count which relates characters to the feed rateof the recording medium and for keeping a cumulative count of same.Further means are provided for keeping a cumulative count ICCrepresentative of how far printing has been progressed, such as, forexample, the number of characters, the number of lines, and so forth,which have been printed starting from a reference point whereby saidcounter includes blank positions as well as character positions.Comparison means are provided for comparing the count generated by thefeed rate of the recording medium against the count of charactersprinted and for generating an output which is employed to cause thecharacter image on the character display medium displayed on the faceplate of the character display device to be shifted in a directioncorresponding to the feed direction of the recording medium in orderthat printing may be performed at a prescribed printing position. Thefeed mechanism further comprises means for accelerating or deceleratingthe feed rate as Well as for stopping the feeding mechanism whichcontrol means operates responsive to the magnitude of the differencebetween the twoaforementioned quantities which act to control theacceleration, deceleration or stoppage respectively, of the feedingmechanism.

It is therefore one object of the instant invention to provide aprinting system for use with high speed electronic computers and thelike having novel means for eliminating the printing time necessary forprinting a blank space among a group of characters to be recorded.

Another object of the instant invention is to provide a printing systemfor use with high speed electronic computers and the like whichcomprises novel electronic means to enable a line of characters to beprinted on the recording medium which in the absence of such electronicmeans would be incapable of being printed due to the mechanical inertiaof the feeding mechanism. when the feed of a recording medium is iirsttemporarily stopped and is then started to continue the printingoperation.

Still another object of the instant invention is to provide a printingsystem for use with high speed electronic computers and the like havingnovel means for altering the sequence of printing positions upon arecording medium in any desired manner from whatever type position inany line is required.

Another object of the instant invention is to provide a printing systemfor use in high-speed electronic computer systems and the like havingelectronic means for controlling the printing operation which is adaptedto operate in a manner such that the mechanical parts appear to beoperating in a intermittent manner.

These and other obiects of the invention will become apparent whenreading the accompanying description and drawings in which:

FGURE 1 is a perspective view of a printing system designed inaccordance with the principles of the instant invention.

FIGURE 2 is a block diagram of the electronic equipment employed forcontrolling the printing system electronic and mechanical elements ofFIGURE l.

FIGURE 3 is a diagram showing a plurality of Waveforms presented for thepurpose of describing the operation of the instant invention.

Referring now to the drawings, FIGURE l shows a perspective View of aprinting system employing the principles of the instant invention andwhich comprises a cathode ray tube lill for use as the character displaydevice. The cathode ray tube 161 is provided with a deflection coilassembly 102 having suitable input terminals M4 and ilS for controllingrespectively, the horizontal and vertical deiiection of an electron beamwhich impinges upon the face plate 116 of the cathode ray tube 102.

The cathode ray tube 102 has the capability of generating an arbitrarycharacter image from a group of a prescribed number of characters bymeans of suitable signals impressed upon the control input terminal 117of the cathode ray tube which character image is portrayed at apredetermined position on the face plate 116 by the deflection signalsapplied to the control input terminals 114 and 115 which deflect theelectron beam in a plane of orthogonal axis and horizontal axisrespectively.

The character image, such as, for example, the character image 118 isfocused upon a photosensitive recording medium 105 by means of anoptical lens 103 and a reflecting -mirror 104. The photosensitiverecording medium 105 is wound upon a feed roller 119 and passes over twoadditional rollers 120 and 109 respectively, to be taken up by asuitable take-up spool or roller (not shown). The recording medium 105is fed in the direction shown by arrow 121 by means of rotating roller109 in the direction shown by arrow 122. Recording medium 105 beingsandwiched between roller 109 and roller 123 is thereby fed in thedirection shown by arrow 121 due to the rotation of roller 109.

Roller 109 is controlled by a feed mechanism cornprised of a motor 106which is designed so that the rotation of motor 106 may be accelerated,decelerated, or stopped by operating or releasing the control circuit107 by applying suitable signals to terminals 124, 125, and 126respectively. Control circuit 107 may, for example, be comprised ofsuitable relay means (not shown) which may be moved to first, second andneutral positions respectively, to accelerate, decelerate, or stop motor105.

Motor 106 is provided with a suitable shaft 127 having a straight wormgear 108 mounted thereupon which straight worm gear meshes with acircular gear 108e circled to shaft 109e of roller 109. Thus theenergization of motor 106 causes rotation of shaft 127 and gears 108 and108a to impart rotation to roller 109. The feed assembly is furtherprovided with a disc 110 secured to shaft 127. Disc 110 is provided witha plurality of apertures arranged in a circular array adjacent theperiphery of said disc. The apertures 11051 are provided for the purposeof generating an electronic count of the feed rate. The count isdeveloped by means of a light sensitive circuit which is comprised of asuitable light source 111 and an optical lens 112 for point focusing thelight rays from said light source. When one of the apertures 110a issuitably positioned then light ray is passed therethrough and impingesupon the sensitive surface of a photoelectric transducer 113. The lightray is intermitently blocked and passed due to the apertures 110ecausing the light impinging upon the photosensitive device 113 to takethe form of periodic impulses. These light impulses are converted intoelectrical impulses which appear at the output terminal 128 ofphotosensitive device 113.

The pitch between adjacent apertures 110e in disc 110 is chosen so thatthe same number of signals as the number of characters per line arederived at output terminal 128 in the same time duration required tofeed the recording medium 105 a distance corresponding to one line ofrecorded characters. As one example, the number of and pitch betweenapertures 110e may be chosen so as to generate 128 electrical impulsesin an application where it is desired to print 128 characters in a lineupon reording medium 105. It should be understood in the embodiment ofFIGURE 1 that the line of characters will be transverse to the feeddirection, one such line being the phantom line 129 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 2 shows a schematic block diagram of the control system employedin conjunction with the system of FIGURE 1 to accurately control theposition of the characters to be printed upon the recording medium 105.As a preface to the explanation of the circuit constituents andoperation of the control means of FIGURE 2, it will be assumed that theembodiment given herein finds application in a system in which thenumber of characters to be printed per line is 2r1 or 128 characters perline and further that the cathode ray device 101 of FIGURE 1 i has thecapability of vertically aligning characters on its face plate 116 so asto generate up to 128 lines of characters upon its face.

The control means 200 of FIGURE 2 is comprised of a 14 stage binary addone counter 201 for counting the signals delivered to its input terminal128 which can readily be seen to be the output terminal 128 of thephotosensitive means 113 shown in FIGURE l. Thus each impulse generatedby the counting means of FEGURE l is impressed upon 14 stage counter 201causing it to add one binary bit to its cumulative count as each impulseis received at its input terminal 128'. Being a 14 stage counter,counter 201 has the capability of generating any binary count from Zeroto 21L1 or 16,3 84.

Simultaneously with the count impulses generated in FIGURE l inputsignals enter the printer control means 200 at terminal 202. Such inputsignals may emanate from an electronic computer, a buffer memory, aregister, et cetera. The print signals impressed upon input terminal 202are coded representations of the characters to be displayed andsubsequently printed. Additional coded representations are provided forrepresenting a blank space, a line skip, or a line reset operation, tocite a few examples.

These print signals are impressed upon a discriminator circuit 203 whichis designed to discriminate between character coded representations andblank code, line reset code, etc. representations. For example, if theprint signals are coded representations of an alphameric character to beprinted the input code impressed upon terminal 202 is converted into asuitable electrical signal and appears at output terminal 117 ofdiscriminator circuit 203. The coded representation then passes througha suitable conversion circuit (it has been omitted for the purposes ofclarity) and is then impressed upon the input terminal 117 of cathoderay device 101 in order to select the appropriate character image to bedisplayed. Simultaneously with the transferring of the codedrepresentation to terminal 117' discrimination circuit 203 generates asignal indicative of the discrimination operation just performed whichsignal appears at the output terminal 204 of discriminator means 203.The signal is impressed upon suitable delay means 205 generating a delayperiod of a length sufficient to permit the printing operation whichperiod is measured from the time the signal received at discriminatingcircuit 203 is transferred over output terminal 117. The delayed signalis then transferred through lead 206 to a suitable gating circuit 207which when controlled, in a manner to be more fully described, passesthis signal to an output terminal 203; The signal appearing at outputterminal 208 which will hereinafter be designated as a one-character endsignal is transferred to the computer (not shown) which feeds thecontrol means 200 such that this signal enables the computer to transferthe next coded representation of the sequence to the input terminal 202of discriminator means 203.

Discriminator means 203 has the further capability of identifying ablank space coded representation and in this instance generates a signalat its output terminal 239, which signal by-passes delay circuit 205 andenters the input terminal 206 of gate means 207 thus avoiding thegeneration of the delay period since no such period is needed forprinting a blank space on the recording medium.

Simultaneously with the transferring of one-character end signal fromdiscriminator means 203 to either delay circuit 205 or gating circuit207 the one-character end signal is imposed upon a 14 stage binary addone counting circuit 210 so as to generate a count determinative of howfar printing has been progressed. Ilhe one-character end signal entersthe input terminal 211 of counter 210 via the output terminal 208 ofgate circuit 207. Thus, each time one character or one blank space codeis processed by discriminator 203 the count of counter circuit 211increases by one.

If a line reset coded representation is received by discriminatorcircuit 203 circuit 203 generates a signal at its Output terminal 212which is impressed upon the reset terminals 213 of the iirst sevenstages of fourteen stage counter 211 and simultaneousl therewith uponthe input terminal 214 of the eighth stage of fourteen stage counter210. The line reset coded representation thereby causes discriminatorcircuit 203 to reset the iirst seven stages of counter 210 to Zero whileincreasing by one the count in the last seven (Le. the 8 to 14) stagesof counter 210. Thus it can be seen that the tirst seven stages ofcounter 210 generates a count indicative of the number of characters perline while the eighth through fourteen stages of counter 210 generates acount indicative of the number of lines of characters which have beenprinted.

The signals of stages 1-7 oi counter 210 appear at the output terminals215 of these stages and are impressed upon the input of a digital toanalog converter circuit 216 which generates a suitable analog signal atits output terminal 217 the magnitude of which is representative of thenumber of characters which have been printed thus far. The analog outputsignal generated at output terminal 217 is impressed upon suitableamplier means 21S which generates an amplitied analog signal at itsoutput terminal 114 which is connected to the input terminals 114 whichis the input terminal for the horizontal deection coil of deliectioncoil assembly 102. Thus the analog signal is employed to select theappropriate horizontal position for the next character to be displayedon the face plate of cathode ray tube 101.

Assuming that, as has previously been mentioned, the printing timerequired for a printing operation diliers from the time required for anon-printing operation such as, for example, a blank space and assumingfurther that the recording medium 105 moves at approximately a constantspeed it is impossible to print at a desired position upon recordingmedium 105 if characters are displayed along a single horizontal line,such as, for example, the horizontal line 130 along the face plate 116of cathode ray tube 102. Therefore, as a consequence of this problemwhich confronts the printing system the vertical alignment of thehorizontal display on the face plate 116 of character display device 102must be altered whereby the alteration is determined by the relationbetween the amount generated by the counting means associated with therecording medium 105 and the selected position to be printed. In orderto provide such a relationship the control means 200 transfers theoutput terminals of 14 stage counter 210 to the set input terminals 217of a 14 stage NOT or inverter circuit 216 which is provided to generatea binary complement of the binary status of counter 210 for any codefrom Zero to 214 or 16,384. The complementary coded representationappearing at the output terminals 218 of NOT circuit 216 are impressedupon one associated input terminal of the 14 stage adder circuit 219.The other input terminals of each stage of the 14 stage adder circuit210 are adapted to receive the coded representation of the count storedin 14 stage count 201 which signals appear at the output terminals 220of each stage of the counter. Thus the count of counter 201 is added tothe complementary count generated by NOT circuit 216 and by causing morethan 14 binary bits overilow the difference in the cumulative countsbetween counter 201 and counter 210 is thus computed. In order to printat a desired position along the recording medium 105 the aforementioneddifference of the cumulative counts corresponds to the physical distancebetween the position ot a character image displayed on the face plate116 of character display device 101 and a reference position on saidface plate. The difference generated by adder circuit 219 appears at theoutput terminals 221 of the adder stages and is impressed upon the inputterminals of a digital to analog converter circuit 222 which generatesat its output terminal 223 an analog signal having a magnitude which isrepresentative of the difference between the two aforementioned counts.The analog signal is impressed upon a suitable ampliiier circuit 223which provides an amplied analog signal at its output terminal Thisoutput terminal is connected to the input terminal 115 of the deflectioncoil assembly 102 and is thereby utilized to control the verticaldeiiection of the electron beam in order to suitably position thecharacter image on face plate 116.

If the difference between the two aforementioned counts becomesextremely large, this is indicative of too rapid an advance of recordingmedium 105. Such a condition iS recognized by coincidence gate circuit224 which is elect trically connected to adder circuit 219 such thatwhen the output of adder circuit 219 exceeds a numeric value which islarger than a suitably selected value which selected value is smallerthan 214 such a condition is detected by coincidence circuit 224 causinga signal to be generated at its output terminal Terminal 125 isconnected to input terminal 125 of control circuit 107 of FIGURE l andupon the receipt of a signal at terminal 125 control circuit 107 acts todecelerate motor means 106. If the difference output of adder circuit219 is smaller than a second suitably selected value which secondsuitably selected value is dierent from the iirst suitably selectedvalue mentioned previously, coincidence circuit 224 generates an outputsignal at its terminal 124 which is connected to the terminal 124 ofcontrol circuit 107 shown in FIGURE 1. The presence of such a signal atcontrol terminal 124 causes control circuit 107 to accelerate mo tormeans 106. If the difference iigure generated by adder circuit 219becomes Zero, coincidence circuit 224 generates a signal at its outputterminal 22S which is impressed upon one input terminal of gatingcircuit 207 which signal acts as the forementioued one-character endsignal employed to apprise the computer (not shown) connected to controlmeans 200 that the next character may be impressed upon the inputterminal 202 of control means 200 by the computer circuit.

When the computer circuit impresses a print signal upon discriminatorcircuit 203 representative of a ters mination of a printing operationdiscriminator circuit 203 generates a signal at its output terminal 226which appears at therrninal 126 for electrical connection to controlterminal 126 in FIGURE 1. The stopping signal thereby causes controlmeans 107 to deenergize motor means 106.

The operation of control means 200 of FIGURE 2 will now be describedwith reference to the diagram of FIG- URE 3 which shows the variouswaveforms employed in the control circuit 200. For the purpose ofexplaining such operation7 let it be assumed that the counter 201 at atime to has generated a count representative of the decimal number 901.While the binary representation for the decimal number 901 is00001110000101, for the purposes of clarity, only, decimal numbers willbe used in the example of operation given herein. The count of counter201 is increased by one binary bit each time an impulse A is received atits input terminal 128.

Simultaneously with this operation, let it be assumed that counter 210contains a count representative of the decimal number 501 which inbinary format is 00000111110101. Again for the purposes of clarity, onlythe decimal representations will be employed as opposed to the binarycoded representations, for purposes of clarity. The count of counter 210is increased in a iirst manner by the receipt of a printing signaldesignated by the letter B and by the receipt or" a blank or no-printsignal represented by the letter C as shown in waveform B of FIGURE 3.in addition to character and no-character print signals B and C a linereset signal represented by the letter D, as previously described,resets stages l-7 of counter 210 while adding a count of one throughstages 8-14 of counter 210. Thus in the example given, at the time f1the count of counter 210 changes from a numeric count of 506 to anumeric count of 512. This count represents the condition that eventhough a full group of 2 128 characters have not been printed thecomputer nevertheless is requesting printing to begin upon the nextsucceeding line of the recording medium 105, thus requiring the counter210 to indicate such a condition by containing a count representative ofthe decimal number 512.

FIGURE 3c shows the one-character end signals designated by the letter Ewhich as previously described is employed to notify the computer thatthe printing system is ready to receive the next coded character. Theoutput information of adder circuit 219 is expressed by the numericalvalues shown in Waveform d of FGURE 3 the heights of which correspond tothe differences in counts between the two aforementioned counters 201and 210 and the analog signal applied to the vertical detiection coilterminal 115 of FIGURE 1, shown by waveform e of FIGURE 3. lt istherefore possible to adjust the display position of each characterimage on the face plate 116 of the character display device, which imageis moved in the vertical direction by the analog waveform e to aposition corresponding to the printing position on the recording medium105 upon which the printing takes place. I

The operation of the control means 260 is as follows:

At time to counter 201 receives a pulse A causing the count containedtherein to be representative of the decimal number 901 indicating thatthe feed mechanism comprised of gears S and 108a have caused 901 pulsesto be presented to counter 201. Att time t2 the one-character end signalappears at gate circuit 207 which signal is impressed upon the input 211of counter 210. immediately prior t-o the receipt of the one-characterend signal counter 210 contained a count of 500 (i.e., binary signalsrepresentative of the decimal number 500), thus the receipt of theone-character end signal B increases the count in counter 210 to 501.This decimal number is indicative of the fact that 501 characters and/or blank spaces have been processed by control means 200. The count 501is compared against the count 901 generating a difference of 400 whichappears at the Aoutput of adder circuit 219. rhis generates the analogsignal at time t2 whose magnitude is `related to the difference 400generated by the adder circuit 219.

At time t3 the count in counter 201 increases to 904 and simultaneouslytherewith control means d processes a blank signal coded representationcausing the difference at this time to be 402, thus generating thedifference analog voltage at time t3. Two subsequent blank space codedrepresentations are processed at times t4 and t5 causing the diminishinganalog voltage steps at these times as shown by waveform e. At time t1control means 200 processes an end of line coded representation D whichsimultaneously clears the first seven stages of counter 210 to Zero andadds one to the last seven stages of counter 210 thus causing thecumulative count in counter 210 to `represent the decimal number 512which is indicative of the fact that four lines of characters and/ orblank spaces have been processed by control means 200. The differencevoltage at this time is 397 causing the downward step at time t1 tocontrol the vertical deiiection coil of the coil assembly 102.

Thus it can be seen that the generation of the feeding device count andthe processed characters count and comparison of these counts generatean analog voltage the magnitude of which determines the verticalpositioning of a character image upon the cathode ray tube face plate inorder to control the positioning of this character image upon theultimate recording medium 105.

Although the principles of this invention have been described above inconnection with specific embodiments, those descriptions are made by wayof examples and hence, should not be construed as limitations to thescope of this invention.

For example, it is possible, within the scope of this invention, to sendto the printer several characters or several lines as a block, forexample, instead of calling up an input code corresponding to onecharacter individually at such a time as indicated by said one-characterend signal or to prepare format by use of a boardgram or a skip-controltape. lt is also possible to employ analog means in lieu of digitalmeans in counting, subtraction, etc. of the feed amounts.

Although there has been described a preferred embodiment of this novelinvention, many variations and modifications will now be apparent tothose skilled in the art. Therefore, this invention is to be limited,not by the specic disclosure herein, but only by the appending claims.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive privilege orproperty is claimed are defined as follows :V

1. A floating type printing system for use in high speed electroniccomputers and the like having recording equipment utilizing a characterimage display device for generating a plurality of characters along asubstantially straight line and being capable of shifting the charactersin a direction transverse to said straight line of characters and on theplane surface of the display device at a predetermined time and arecording medium that moves continuously at a controlled speed, whichcomprises iirst means for generating a first count representing the feedrate of the recording medium; second means for generating a second countrepresenting the number of characters which have been processed; thirdmeans for controlling the display position of each character beingprocessed by said printing system upon the faceplate of said characterdisplay device in a direction parallel to the feed direction of therecording medium; and fourth means for computing the numericaldifference between the feed rate count and the characters processedcount for controlling said third means to suitably position thecharacters being processed along the faceplate of the character displaydevice transverse to said line of characters.

2. A floating type printing system for use in high speed electroniccomputers and the like having recording equipment utilizing a characterimage display device capable of displaying a selected character at anydesired position on the plane surface of the display device at apredetermined time and a recording medium that moves continuously at acontrolled speed, which comprises first means for generating a irstcount representing the feed rate of the recording medium; second meansfor generating a second count representing the number of characterswhich have been processed; third means for controlling the displayposition of each character being processed by said printing system uponthe faceplate of said character display device in a direction parallelto the feed direction of the recording medium; and fourth means forcomputing the numerical difference between the feed rate count and thecharacters processed count for controlling said third means to suitablyposition the character being processed along the faceplate .of thecharacter display device; fth means connected between the printingsystem and the computer for controlling the rate at which codedcharacters are transferred to said printing system.

3. The printing system of claim 1 wherein the character display deviceis a cathode ray tube.

4. A iloating type printing system for use in high speed electroniccomputers and the like having recording equipment utilizing a characterimage display device capable of displaying a selected character at anydesired position on the plane surface of the display device at apredetermined time and a recording medium that moves continuously at acontrolled speed, which comprises first means for generating a firstcount representing the feed rate of the recording medium; second meansfor generating a second count representing the number of characterswhich have been processed; third means for controlling the displayposition of each character being processed by said printing system uponthe faceplate of said character display device in a direction parallelto the feed direction of the recording medium; and fourth means forcomputing the numerical difference between the feed rate count and thecharacters processed count for controlling said third rneans to suitablyposition the character being processed along the faceplate of thecharacter display device; said fth means further comprising sixth meansresponsive to said numeric difference for controlling the feed rate ofsaid recording medium.

5. A floating type printing system for use in high speed electroniccomputers and the like having recording equipment utilizing a characterimage display device capable of displaying a selected character at anydesired position on the plane surface of the display device at apredetermined time and a recording medium that moves continuously at acontrolled speed, which comprises first means for generating a rst countrepresenting the feed rate of the recording medium; second means forgenerating a second count representing the number of characters whichhave been processed; third means for controlling the display position ofeach character being processed by said printing system upon thefaceplate of said character display device in a direction parallel tothe feed direction of the recording medium; and fourth means forcomputing the numerical difference between the feed rate count and thecharacters processed count for controlling said third means to suitablyposition the character being processed along the faceplate of thecharacter display device; said second'means comprising means forgenerating an analog voltage representative of said second count forcontrolling the horizontal detiection of said character display device.

6. A oating type printing system for use in high speed electroniccomputers and the like having recording equipment utilizing a characterimage display device capable of displaying a selected character at anydesired position on the plane surface of the display device at apredetermined time and a recording medium that moves continuously at acontrolled speed, which comprises first means for generating a firstcount representing the feed rate of the recording medium; second meansfor generating a second count representing the number of characterswhich have been processed; third means for controlling the displayposition of each character being processed by said printing system uponthe faceplate of said character display device in a direction parallelto the feed direction of the recording medium; and fourth means forcomputing the numerical difference between the feed rate count and thecharacters processed count for controlling said third means to suitablyposition the character being processed along the faceplate of thecharacter display device; said fourth means furthe-r comprising meansfor generating an analog voltage representative of said numericdifference for controlling the vertical deflection of said characterdisplay device.

7. A oating type printing system for use in high speed electroniccomputers and the like having recording equipment utilizing a characterimage display device capable of displaying a selected character at anydesired position on the plane surface of the display device at apredetermined time and a recording medium that moves continuously at aconstant speed which comprises first means for generating a rst countrepresenting the feed rate of the recording medium; second means forgenerating a second count representing the number of characters whichhave been processed; third means for controlling the display position ofeach character being processed by said printing system upon thefaceplate of said character display device in a direction parallel tothe feed direction of the recording medium; and fourth means forcomputing the numerical difference between the feed rate count and thecharacters processed count for controlling said third means to suitablyposition the character being processed along the faceplate of thecharacter display device; said fourth means further comprising means forgenerating an analog voltage representative of said numeric differencefor controlling the vertical deflection of said character displaydevice; sixth means connected between said second means and said fourthmeans for generating the complement of said second count forpresentation to the input of said fourth means.

8. A floating type printing system for use in high speed electroniccomputers and the like having recording equipment utilizing a characterimage display device capable of displaying a selected character at anydesired position on the plane surface of the display device at apredetermined time and a recording medium that moves continuously at acontrolled speed, which comprises rst means for generating a first countrepresenting the feed rate of the recording medium; second means forgenerating a second count representing the number of characters whichhave been processed; third means for controlling the display position ofeach character being processed by said printing system upon thefaceplate of said character display device in a direction parallel tothe feed direction of the recording medium; and fourth means forcomputing the numerical difference between the feed rate count and thecharacters processed count for controlling said third means to suitablyposition the character being processed along the faceplate of thecharacter display device; said fourth means further comprising means forgenerating an analog voltage representative of said numeric dif ferencefor controlling the vertical deection of said character display device;sixth means connected between said second means and said fourth meansfor generating the complement of said second count for presentation tothe input of said fourth means; said sixth means further comprisingcoincidence means connected to said fourth means for controlling thefeed rate of said recording medium.

9. A floating type printing system for use in high speed electroniccomputers and the like having recording equipment utilizing a characterimage display device capable of displaying a selected character at anydesired position on the plane surface of the display device at apredetermined time and a recording medium that moves continuously at acontrolled speed, which comprises rst means for generating a first countrepresenting the feed rate of the recording medium; second means forgenerating a second count representing the number of characters whichhave been processed; third means for controlling the display position ofeach character being processed by said printing system upon thefaceplate of said character display device in a direction parallel tothe feed direction of the recording medium; and fourth means forcomputing the numerical difference between the feed rate count and thecharacters processed count for controlling said third means to suitablyposition the character being processed along the faceplate of thecharacter display device; said fourth means further comp-rising meansfor generating an analog voltage representative of said numericdifference for controlling the vertical deflection of said characterdisplay device; sixth means connected between said second means and saidfourth means for generating the complement of said second count forpresentation to the input of said fourth means; said sixth means furthercomprising coincidence means connected to said fourth means forcontrolling the feed rate of said recording medium, said coincidencemeans further comprising iirst means responsive to numeric valuesgreater than a rst selected magnitude for decelerating said recordingmedium.

l0. A floating type printing system for use Iin high speed electronicycomputers and |the like having recording equipment utilizing acharacter image display device capable of displaying a selectedcharacter 'at any desired position on the plane surface of the displaydevice at a predetermined time and a recording medium that movescontinuously at la controlled speed, which comprises iirst means forgenerating a rst count representing the feed rate of the recordingmedium; second means for generating a second count Vrepresenting thenumber of characters which have been processed; third means forcontrolling the display yposition of each character being processed bysaid printing system upon the faceplate of said character display devicein a direction parallel to the feed direction of the recording medium;and fourth means for computing the numerical difference between the feedrate count and the characters processed count for controlling sta-idthird means to suitably position the character being processed along thefaceplate of the character display device; said fourth means furthercomprising means for generating an analog voltage representative of saidnumeric difference for controlling the vertical deflection of saidcharacter display device; sixth means connected 'between said secondmeans and said fourth means for generating the complement of said secondcount rfor presentation to the input of said fourth means; said sixthmeans further co-mpri-sing coincidence means connected to said fourthmeans for controlling the feed rate of said recording medium, saidcoincidence means further comprising rst means responsive to numericvalues greater than -a first selected magnitude for decelerating saidrecording medium and second means responsive to numeri-c values smallerthan a second selected magnitude for accelerating said recording medium.

11. A floating type printing system for use in high speed electroniccomputers and the like having recording equipment utilizing a characterimage display device capable of displaying a selected character at anydesired position on the plane surface of .the display device at apredetermined time and a recording medium that moves continuously at acontrolled speed, which comprises first means for generating -a rstcount represen-ting the feed rate of the recording medium; second meansfor generating a second count representing the number of characterswhich have been processed; third means for controlling the displayposition of each character being processed by said printing system uponthe faceplate of said character display device in a :direction parallelto the feed direction of the recording medium; and fourth means forcomputing the numerical difference between the feed rate count and thecharacters processed count for controlling said third means to suitablyposition the 'character being processed .along the faceplate of thecharacter display device; said ourth means further comprising means -forgenerating an analog voltage representative of said numeric difference'for controlling the vertical deilection of said character displaydevice; sixth means connected between said second means and said fourthmeans for generating the complement of said second count forpresentation to the input of said fourth means; said sixth means furthercomprising coincidence means connected to said fourth means forcontrolling the feed rate of said recording medium, said coincidencemeans further comprising rst means responsive to numeric values `greaterthan a first selected magnitude for decelerating said recording mediumand second means responsive to numeric values smaller than a secondselected magnitude for accelerating said recording medium and thirdmeans responsive to numeric values less than said rst selected magnitudeand greater than said second selected magnitude for retaining thepresent speed of said recording medium.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,379,880 7/45Burgess 178-15 2,736,770 2/56 McNaney 178-15 3,012,239 12/61 Clemensl78-l5 X NORTON ANSI-IER, Primary Examiner.

JOHN M. HORAN, Examiner.

1. A FLOATING TYPE PRINTING SYSTEM FOR USE IN HIGH SPEED ELECTRONIC COMPUTERS AND THE LIKE HAVING RECORDING EQUIPMENT UTILIZING A CHARACTER IMAGE DISPLAY DEVICE FOR GENERATING A PLURALITY OF CHARACTERS ALONG A SUBSTANTIALLY STRAIGHT LINE AND BEING CAPABLE OF SHIFTING THE CHARACTERS IN A DIRECTION TRANSVERSE TO SAID STRAIGHT LINE OF CHARACTERS AND ON THE PLANE SURFACE OF THE DISPLAY DEVICE AT A PREDETERMINED TIME AND A RECORDING MEDIUM THAT MOVES CONTINUOUSLY AT A CONTROLLED SPEED, WHICH COMPRISES FIRST MEANSFOR GENERATING A FIRST COUNT REPRESENTING THE FEED RATE OF THE RECORDING MEDIUM; SECOND MEAND FOR GENERATING SECOND COUNT REPRESENTING THE NUMBER OF CHARACTERS WHICH HAVE BEEN PROCESSED; THIRD MEANS FOR CONTROLLING THE DISPLAY POSITION OF EACH CHARACTER BEING PROCESSED BY SAID PRINTING SYSTEM UPON THE FACEPLATE OF SAID CHARACTER DISPLAY DEVICE IN A DIRECTON PARALLEL TO THE FEED DIRECTION OF THE RECORDING MEDIUM; AND FOURTH MEANS FOR COMPUTING THE NUMERICAL DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE FEED RATE COUNT AND THE CHARACTERS PROCESSED COUNT FOR CONTROLLING SAID THRID MEANS TO SUITABLE POSITION THE CHARACTERS BEING PROCESSED ALONG THE FACEPLATE OF THE CHARACTER DISPLAY DEVICE TRANSVERSE TO SAID LINE OF CHARACTER. 